Chapter 83: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Due to the powerful forces backing the young Pastor Martin, the bidders present dared not underestimate him and were cautious. When his bid reached seventy thousand sols, no one else bid further, and everyone gave up competing. After all, there was still one bottle left to auction, and there was no need to offend the Agricultural Goddess Church represented by the Temple of Pangsishi City at this point.

The Agricultural Goddess Church had been in Celt for hundreds of years. Although it remained low-key and generally did not interfere in the kingdom’s power struggles, it had the backing of a powerful true god, making it extremely strong and not something that local nobles could easily bully.

Even the governor of the North County, after some deliberation, had no choice but to back down and seek a third chance.

The second bottle of Moon Elf Wine already had a buyer, so it was up to who had the bigger purse to win the third bottle.

In the end, the Moon Elf Wine was purchased by Viscount Macbeth at a high price of eighty thousand sols. If one had more cash on hand, it was likely no one could surpass Macbeth, the lord of Giant Stone City. By the middle of the auction, he had already sent someone to the city’s treasury to withdraw cash. Even if others were as wealthy as him, they wouldn’t have enough time to transfer funds from elsewhere.

With the last item auctioned off, the auction for the day came to an end. The crowd began to disperse, and Donald and the other person in the VIP room lost interest as well.

Then the silver-haired old man said, “Lord Baron, you’ve reaped quite a profit this time!”

“Whereas! It’s all thanks to you, sir. I’m just earning some extra money to help support my family!”

Though Donald said this, the unrestrained smile on his face showed that he was indeed in high spirits.

It made sense—just one auction had allowed him to earn over twenty-five thousand sols. Anyone would be happy in such a situation.

“The North County is still a remote place. If Lord Baron took the items to the capital for auction, even just the price of that bottle of Moon Elf Wine would be no less than ten thousand sols. In that case, it’s Lord Baron who’s at a disadvantage!”

Donald understood this well. He replied, “Auctioning them in the capital might indeed yield more profit, but auctioning them here in Giant Stone City is also a way to promote my territory, attracting outsiders and helping it develop better!”

At that moment, Barron, the steward who had previously greeted Donald, came to report.

“The adventurer who bid on the life potion couldn’t come up with 1,500 gold sols, but he plans to pay with a level 5 magic core instead. As an auction house, we can’t make a decision on behalf of the Baron, so we’d like to ask what the Baron thinks.”
“A level 5 magic core? I’ll go take a look myself!”
Donald briefly bid farewell to his master and immediately followed Manager Barrow to the back area, somewhat interested. It wasn’t for the level 5 magic core, but for its owner.
Upon arriving at the back area, they saw the stern-looking adventurer waiting there with a servant. The servant breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Manager Barrow bring the owner of the auction items. Standing next to someone so silent and cold was quite a test of his mental endurance.
“Mr. Ode, this is Baron Donald Merlinna, the owner of the two items you bid on!”
After Manager Barrow’s introduction, the adventurer named Ode stiffly bowed slightly and uttered a cold sentence with no movement in his lips.
“My Lord Baron!”
Manager Barrow quickly interjected, “Mr. Ode doesn’t have much cash on hand, so he wants to use a level 5 magic core as payment. What do you think, My Lord Baron?”
“May I take a look?” Donald asked the cold-faced Ode.
Donald didn’t mind the latter’s rudeness much. Although he couldn’t directly sense the other person’s strength using his mental powers, since even a dual-skilled practitioner like himself, at the bronze level, couldn’t gauge their true strength, Donald could guess that either the person wasn’t very good at hiding their abilities or they might already be at the silver level. Given that they showed no fear even in facing a city lord like Macbeth, the latter possibility seemed more likely.
Such a strong person couldn’t be unknown, so this silver-level warrior must have come from outside Celt. Even if one couldn’t become friends with a silver-level warrior, it was best not to offend them!
Seeing the other person nod, Donald picked up the level 5 magic core to take a quick look, then put it down and said to Manager Barrow, “This magic core is of good quality. Process the payment for this gentleman!”
“Sure, My Lord Baron!” Manager Barrow replied immediately and ordered the servant to bring out the two auction items.

A fifth-level magic core usually costs over a thousand gold sols, with some rare ones possibly reaching two thousand. This one seems to be from an aquatic magical beast; its quality is decent, and it contains ample water element energy. The purchase price is estimated at around 1,400 gold sols, but Donald simply charged him 1,500, not caring about the difference.

The adventurer, Ode, remained silent. After the waiter handed over the item, he merely nodded in response before turning to leave.

Donald watched his retreating figure and suddenly said, “By the way! As an extra tip, our city lord isn’t as generous as ordinary nobles. Be careful tonight—you might not sleep well!”

Hearing this, the adventurer paused for a moment before leaving the auction house’s back area without looking back. Only a soft voice reached Donald’s ears: “Thank you!”

The adventurer’s brief thank you didn’t bother Donald, as he had only intended to give a light reminder and show some kindness. Even if he hadn’t warned him, given that viscount’s abilities, any attempts at sneaky actions would likely end in failure.

After seeing the adventurer go, Donald fell into thought. Then, Butler Bert came to summon him and led him to an attic behind the auction house.

Judging from the surroundings, it seemed the former intelligence chief of the Kingdom of Qianjing, now the behind-the-scenes owner of the Gold Sol Auction House, lived here.

Upon arrival, they saw an elderly man with silver hair sitting leisurely in a wicker chair, with two snacks and hot milk tea in front of him.

“The old man really knows how to enjoy life!” “As one gets older, this is the only hobby left. This milk tea is made with black tea from your estate—how does it taste?”

Donald sat down in another wicker chair, poured himself a cup of milk tea, and sipped it carefully.

The milk tea, flavored with honey and sugar and diluted with goat’s milk, was somewhat sweet and cloying, not quite Donald’s taste. But drinking it occasionally wouldn’t be unpleasant.

The two sat silently in the tranquil courtyard filled with blooming flowers and green leaves, neither speaking.

It wasn’t until the cup of milk tea was empty that the old man spoke up, “I wonder how you feel about my proposal, Baron.”

“To be able to serve His Majesty the King is certainly an honor for me. I understand the importance of intelligence. If you can provide valuable information, I’ll consider giving those two bottles of Moon Elf wine to His Majesty. But I certainly don’t want to get involved in any conflicts because of it!”

Just two bottles of Moon Elf wine—this cost is nothing to him. Besides, the funds raised from this auction are more than enough to support his territory’s operations for a whole year. He’s not that stingy. Sometimes, taking a small step back is wiser than always striving to be the strongest, as it will allow for better progress in the future.
“Rest assured, our deal will be kept completely secret. No one other than Your Majesty will know about it.”
With that, Anger took out a letter from his bosom and placed it on the table. “Take a look! As the first gift of our partnership, this contains information about the organization that attempted to assassinate you not long ago. The mastermind behind this organization is none other than an old acquaintance of yours—I’m sure you’ll find it interesting!”
After hearing this, Donald frowned and picked up the letter to read it. What caught his eye were the intelligence pieces gathered by the silver-haired old man through various channels. After reading a few lines, Donald’s expression changed, and he asked, “Is the information in this letter accurate?”
“Don’t doubt my abilities. Although Macbeth thought he had left no traces, he didn’t realize that there were still some flaws in his actions as seen through my eyes.”
Donald nodded and continued reading the intelligence report, a cold smile forming on his lips.
“Heh! Truly, humans lack the heart to kill tigers, yet tigers can still hurt humans! Macbeth, this time I’m determined to knock you down hard. Only after hurting you severely will you learn your lesson and dare not bother me again!”
“What do you plan to do?”
Donald replied without hesitation, “What to do? Naturally, nothing at all. I’ll wait and see what happens. I won’t act rashly and create trouble unless I’m absolutely sure I can defeat my opponent! Of course, necessary preparations are needed. I can’t wait until the other party strikes before realizing I have no way to fight back.”
Anger praised, “Such composure from a young man—truly worthy of his achievements today. Good! I’ve always disliked that Macbeth guy. When you’re ready to act, old Gwa will surely lend you a hand!”
Donald nodded solemnly. “Then thank you, sir. It’s getting late; I should take my leave now.”
“Very well! I’ll have Bert see you out.”
With the proceeds from the auction, Donald left the Golden Sol Auction House. First, he went to the Mage’s Guild to consult his teacher about some issues related to alchemy and mage advancement.

The last time he was subjected to the mental pressure from that robed mage and the influence of its mysterious and powerful will, Donald felt that his mental strength had reached the standard required to advance to the Bronze rank. However, as a novice in the mage profession, he still needed to seek advice from his teacher.

Regarding this, Messeil sighed and said, “Your talent is truly extraordinary, exceeding my expectations. You will surely become the first Golden Archmage in the North County. As your teacher, there isn’t much more I can do to help you—only pass on some experience to help you avoid unnecessary detours!”

“Teacher, please don’t say that. Your guidance is already the greatest help to me! Without your guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far on the path of magic!”

“Enough of that. Now, let me explain the key points to consider for advancing to Bronze Mage. The Bronze rank is a threshold for any professional; in ancient times, only by reaching this rank could one be considered to have begun their cultivation journey. As for the so-called Black Iron rank, it’s like a child learning to walk.” “At the Bronze rank, warrior professions such as swordsmen and knights begin to understand the use of energy. This energy is essentially the power within our bodies. Ancient mages believed that everything in the world is composed of matter and energy, and these two can be transformed into one another. For example, when wood is ignited, it burns into flames—a simple example of matter, wood, being transformed into elemental fire energy.”

Hearing this, Donald immediately realized that it was nothing but the physics and chemistry knowledge he had learned in his past life’s textbooks. It seemed that certain fundamental rules were similar across worlds.

Then Messeil continued, “Once you understand this, you’ll be able to progress further in understanding the principles of alchemy and the composition of spells compared to those ignorant mages!”